http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/24662.php

Published: 08.31.2006
Munsil proposes state border patrol force
PAUL DAVENPORT
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - Republican gubernatorial candidate Len Munsil on Thursday proposed a major new expansion of the state's efforts to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border and combat illegal immigration, including creation of a new state Department of Public Safety unit to help patrol the border.

Munsil said the multifaceted plan he proposed jointly with GOP attorney general candidate Bill Montgomery would probably carry a pricetag in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars. He declined to elaborate on the costs.
Besides creating the Arizona Border Patrol as a division of DPS, other elements of the plan include deploying Arizona National Guard troops on the border, seeking funding for border radar, fencing and vehicle barriers and passing new state laws to criminalize illegal immigrants' presence in Arizona and to punish employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Other elements include providing additional funding for courts and law enforcement agencies and having the Attorney General's Office form a new unit to handle any prosecutions under the state's human-smuggling law and training more Arizona law enforcement officers to handle immigration interviews so undocumented immigrants can be turned over to federal authorities faster.

Munsil and Montgomery said they released the plan because handling of immigration and border issues by Gov. Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Terry Goddard has been dangerously inadequate. The situation is just as bad as it was when the two Democratic officials took office in 2002, the Republicans said.

"Nothing has happened. Nothing has been done," Munsil said.
He said costs of the plan would depend on negotiations with state lawmakers and federal authorities on exactly what the state could and should do to augment federal efforts. "We're talking in the hundreds of millions of dollars."

Napolitano campaign spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Munsil's plan contained elements that either already are being done or are unrealistic for reasons of funding or legal authority.

"Obviously the governor does not go along with the idea of creating an entirely new police force to do something that the federal government should have been doing all along," L'Ecuyer said.

Steps already taken or under way include deploying National Guard troops along the border to support the Border Patrol and training Department of Corrections officers to conduct immigration interviews, L'Ecuyer said.

Napolitano has criticized the federal government, saying it is falling short of its responsibilities for border security and immigration enforcement and failing to fully reimburse the state for costs stemming from illegal immigration.

Napolitano was at odds with GOP lawmakers on immigration- and border-related issues throughout the Legislature's 2006 session and vetoed several Republican-sponsored measures.

Montgomery, Napolitano and Goddard are unopposed in their respective Sept. 12 primary races, while Munsil is one of four Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for governor.

Munsil's chief rival for the Republican nomination, Don Goldwater, has claimed illegal immigration and border security as his issue.

Goldwater's own plan calls for deploying National Guard troops along the border to apprehend illegal crossers, not just in support roles. He also wants to construct a border fence, prosecute employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and establish "tent city" camps along the border so illegal immigrants convicted of crimes can help build border barriers and repair environmental damage caused by illegal crossings.